Computer storage details like this aren't really my wheelhouse, so I was hoping someone may be able to help with some advice. I am doing my own research but figured asking would be good to have my bases covered.
I was using a 2021 4TB WD 'my passport', wd40nmzm, as my archive drive to store games, music, books, etc for the past few years. It was bought from a reputable place. It died last night, as confirmed by a repair guy who evaluated it. It was always stored in a drawer, never dropped, and once something was copied there it stayed there. The biggest changes I made were renaming files to organize things. It didn't get a lot of extended, heavy use. The most use it ever had at one time was a 6 hour copy session last weekend when I started backing up some data to another drive. Bad luck, I guess. I was planning to just throw it into my desktop to try my luck ataccessing it, but it seems like this is one that can't be shucked and installed because of its native usb connection. Lesson learned
I was sizing up replacement options and hoping to get something that can be shucked and plugged into a desktop in a pinch like this, if possible. I'm avoiding WD from now on. I was sizing up a Seagate Expansion Portable 4TB drive, 4000400 unit at Costco. Are they generally considered reliable? They seem suckable from what I saw.
Other options I have are ADATA HV620s, Transcend Storejet 25M3 and 25H3 series, and the Toshiba Canvio Basics and Flex series. I haven't sized them up in detail for quality yet. The Costco drive is the best value per GB. I will be getting a new portable ssd for more important data, but I want this for storing 'nice to have', but not crucial data in case I move somewhere with data caps on downloads, etc